Left: Otto Lilienthal with his flying machine in 1891. Humans would break the sound barrier less than six decades later.

We tried for centuries to flap our wings and fly like birds. Now, we fly far faster and further than birds without flying “like” them.

The design of the submarine was also inspired by biology. But, does a submarine “swim”?

When we ask if computers will ever be able to think, it might be useful to take a cue from history and realize the question might be incomplete. It won’t matter if computers “think” like we do, it will matter if they can produce the same (or superior) output far faster and cheaper than us.

It's not hard for most of us to admit that computers have better memory and arithmetic skills than we do, but I don’t think most people realize (myself included) just how many more of our uniquely human skills won’t be uniquely human for long.

The recent progress in artificial intelligence is explored in Do You Trust This Computer? The entire documentary can be streamed for free for the next 24 hours here. It will blow your mind. The next 20 years are going to be nuts.